Pattern Making
Pattern Making Fashion Design Course
In October 2020, I’ve decided to brush up on my apparel design knowledge and skills with a private course in basic pattern making at the Deqiu Art Center 得丘艺术馆 in Shanghai. That one-on-one course with a very experienced fashion design teacher took place over 1 month in 8 separate settings each around 2 hours long, where I learned how to build and create a piece of garment from scratch involving all the essential steps from measuring your body to drafting the pattern, cutting and sewing the fabric to a finalized piece of clothing which is ready to wear.
From taking my measurements to drafting and cutting the patterns
I decided to make a very casual hooded sweatshirt, something I would wear in a casual and sporty setting and something I would feel comfortable wearing during the colder winter months. The first step was to pick up the measure tape and start measuring your whole body which includes measurements of your head circumference and neck, as well as waist, hip and front/back waist length and finish with your shoulders and arm length.
After writing down all those measurements I began drafting the patterns using pen and paper. You normally need some big sheets of thicker craft paper so the templates later would be more robust and can be re-used. I started tracing down all the body parts I had measured earlier. I used a clear straight ruler with printed measurements to draw straight lines and a french curve ruler and hip curve ruler to draw curved lines. Tracing down all the templates by hand for front and back as well as for the arms and the hood definitely took some time especially if you don’t do it on a regular basis. I also had to make sure to add appropriate allowance for fit and stretch and there is a difference if you are making clothing for men or women. Cutting out all the parts with a large scissor would be the last step in creating the master template which can be used for any kind of clothing I plan to create in the future.
From cutting and sewing the fabric to finalizing the garment
The next step would be to trace around the template onto the fabric, I purchased around 2 square meters of blue jersey fabric as well as elastic rib knit fabric for the cuffs and waistband. After laying out the fabric flat on the table, I started tracing around the master template using chalk or little soap bars adding around 2.5cm for seam allowance. I used weights and pins to keep the templates in place while I was tracing around them. I had to make sure to label the pieces with front and back before I cut the fabric otherwise it would be difficult to distinguish afterwards. After tracing all the parts I used a large fabric scissor to cut out the fabric pieces.
The edges of the raw fabric I cleaned up by using the Serger machine in the studio to make overlock stitches along the edges, this makes clean edges and avoids it from fraying. Next is using the sewing machine to sew together all the different pieces by pairing the front with the respective back pieces and sew them together. I had to iron down the inside overlapping edges to make them lay flat. Some areas I had to add another overlocking stitch line by hand on the inside which was invisible on the outside. I added some design element to the front center of collar line. The 2 overlapping raw looking stitch lines give the hoodie some unique character. Last part is to sew on the hood and the rib knit bands for the cuffs and the waistband and the hoodie is completed.
The final product
It has been quite a process to create and build a hoodie from scratch, it definitely makes me appreciate the work and effort which goes into creating a piece of garment so much more. I’m happy with the final product although it came out a bit bigger than I expected, it could have been 1 or 2 sizes smaller but nevertheless understanding all the steps involved and having it done all myself was simply priceless!